Reading XML with PowerShell
We can read XML files using PowerShell. For example, we have the following content in foods.xml file
<foods> <food> <name>Belgian Waffles</name> <price>$5.95</price> <description>Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup</description> <calories>650</calories> </food> <food> <name>Strawberry Belgian Waffles</name> <price>$7.95</price> <description>Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream</description> <calories>900</calories> </food> <food> <name>Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles</name> <price>$8.95</price> <description>Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream</description> <calories>900</calories> </food> <food> <name>French Toast</name> <price>$4.50</price> <description>Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread</description> <calories>600</calories> </food> <food> <name>Homestyle Breakfast</name> <price>$6.95</price> <description>Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns</description> <calories>950</calories> </food> </foods>
Read the xml document
PS C:\> [xml]$XmlDocument = Get-Content .\foods.xml
PS C:\> $XmlDocument
foods
-----
foods
PS C:\> $XmlDocument.foods
food
----
{Belgian Waffles, Strawberry Belgian Waffles, Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles, French Toast...}
PS C:\> $XmlDocument.foods.food
name price description calories
---- ----- ----------- --------
Belgian Waffles $5.95 Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup 650
Strawberry Belgian Waffles $7.95 Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream 900
Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles $8.95 Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream 900
French Toast $4.50 Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread 600
Homestyle Breakfast $6.95 Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns 950
PS C:\> $XmlDocument.foods.food.name
Belgian Waffles
Strawberry Belgian Waffles
Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles
French Toast
Homestyle Breakfast
We can also use to directly read the values using Select-Xml cmdlet.
PS C:\> $path = "foods.xml" PS C:\> $xpath = "/foods/food" PS C:\> Select-Xml -Path $path -XPath $xpath | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Node name price description calories ---- ----- ----------- -------- Belgian Waffles $5.95 Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup 650 Strawberry Belgian Waffles $7.95 Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream 900 Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles $8.95 Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream 900 French Toast $4.50 Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread 600 Homestyle Breakfast $6.95 Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns 950